**6. Recommendation for practice**

The recommendations to reduce mental distress among medical students are discussed as follows:


sufficient sleep. Give students in the campus opportunity for sporting and cultural activities to lessen their distress.

• Include elements of professionalism in the core curriculum.

It is needed to convince stakeholders of medical institute, i.e., head of medical education and principal, that we need to establish a strong support system for students for counseling, with whom they can discuss their problems, whether it is related to their psychological health or academics. Merely identifying the mental distress of a student does not seem to contribute to reducing the psychological morbidity; it is crucial to provide personalized support to the stressed students once they are recognized [15]. Students are reluctant to take available support because of the stigma related to the mental illness; they are not comfortable enough in taking consultations from their own institution. Such students should be given a chance to have an off-campus psychological support or online help with full confidentiality. These support systems increase the awareness and practice of positive coping approaches. These distress management programs should advise students about the negative effects of mental distress on human functioning and enlighten students on how to recognize the sources of mental distress and how to manage it. These groups provide an opportunity to students to express themselves and to share their feelings fearlessly, and thus it decreases the possibility of burnout. Such support groups help students to realize that they are not the only ones who are suffering but many others are also in the same situation. It also gives them a chance to realize how their colleagues solve such issues. Students should be given the chance to express their vision on the curriculum, so that they can give their unique insights to curriculum committees. Regular feedback from students on teaching and training can play a vital role in reducing the stress among students [15, 74–77].
